The Dealer spotted the IFA Livestock team headed up by chairman Henry Burns in deep discussion with French colleagues in the FNB in downtown Brussels last week.

With French bull beef prices as low as €3.65/kg and farm incomes on the floor, the FNB has adopted the Irish tactic of factory protests with farmers withholding supplies.

The Dealer hears FNB president Jean Pierre Fleury was very interested in the detail and success of the IFA tactics employed in its battle with the factories last November/December.

On Thursday morning, the Dealer hears the French farmers had the tar barrels out with loads of pallets, tyres and, in some instances, loads of farmyard manure being tipped outside the gates of some meat plants. We will watch with interest to see if the French can prise a price increase of 30c/kg over the next few weeks.